Shame and Grace- oneshot
"Shame is when you hate what you are; while grace is when you love what you have become." That was the phrase always spoken to Inuyasha by his mother. She always seemed so smart and so wise. He wanted to be as much like her as possible but first he had to think back on what his mother meant by this phrase. Was it as simple as it seemed or could there be more to it…?
"Inuyasha look a village!" Kagome screamed as they reached the top of a mountain to look down on a big village that lay within a valley. It was rather big and several people were walking around the commons. "Can we stop there tonight?" Kagome asked.
"Yeah, let's stop there." Everyone agreed.
"Fine but tomorrow we are going out again." Inuyasha said. He never liked villages, something about being called half breed and always being told your not welcomed will make you hate it but his mother always told him to never hate. So with that he decided to give everyone and everything a chance just like that of his mother's last wishes.
They walked into the village with every villager gawking at Inuyasha, Shippo, and Kilala. The group ignored them as Miroku walked ahead to work his way into the village and get a good place for them to sleep. While Miroku was gone the rest stayed in the village main to look at the market. "Look at this Inuyasha." Kagome screamed showing him a beautiful necklace that was well over priced. "Isn't it beautiful?"
"Yeah, it is." Inuyasha agreed. If money was not an issue, he surely would have bought it for her. But money was not something that grew on trees so with that; the necklace was nothing more than a memory as they left the stand.
"Look at the half breed, what is it doing here?" Inuyasha tried to ignore the whispers knowing Kagome and the others didn't hear them.
"Look over here." Kagome said pointing to a bow. "It looks so much better than mine."
"Maybe we should tell it to leave; half breeds can only bring problems." The whispers couldn't stop as he flicked his ear away from the whispers.
"Yeah and look at the price." Inuyasha whispered.
"Oh." Was her answer as she ran to the next place. Kagome was surely in ADD land when she came to places like this.
"What is it doing here?"
"Why is this half breed here? It should be out there."
"Someone needs to send it out of here." Inuyasha tried to walk behind Kagome as he heard the remarks.
"Could the half breed have forced the girl to stay with it? It does seem very possessive around her?"
Inuyasha heard the remarks about him and at this certain village they seemed to be stronger than normal. He had enough and ran off into the woods.
Kagome and the others turned from there shopping just in time to see there hanyou leave. "Wait up Inuyasha." Kagome yelled chasing after him leaving the rest behind.
'Shame and grace? What were the differences? Surely Sesshomaru was graceful but did he love what he had become or what did he become? Kagome wasn't graceful and she seemed to love herself so much, she always took good care of herself. Shame, did he truly have shame, was shame something that you are. Than who was he? Was he truly a half breed or was he something more?' He thought as he stopped at a pond to think over everything. After a few seconds he heard Kagome come from behind him.
"Here you are Inuyasha! What was that about?" Kagome asked out of breath.
"I get tired of people calling me a half breed, it bugs me. I couldn't take it anymore." He whispered looking into a small pond.
"Inuyasha I didn't hear it."
"They whisper it, they don't think I can hear it but I do. Everywhere we go people think I should be shameful for what I am. They think I should hide myself from the world."
"There is a phrase I was told when I was a kid, I don't know where it came from but it is a great one. Shame is when you hate who you are; while grace is when you love what you have become."
"I have heard that before." He whispered staring into the river.
"Then you know what it means?" Kagome asked hopefully.
Inuyasha shook his head.
"Look." Kagome said pointing into the water. "What do you see?"
"I see you and me." He said.
"No deeper."
"Fish."
"No. Who do you see? Sure you see us but when it comes to you what do you see?"
"I see a half breed who isn't welcomed anywhere. He makes stupid mistakes and can never do anything right" He muttered before hitting the water with his fist.
"Well you know what I see?" She smiled. "I see a protector, I see someone who is willing to give his own life for others, I see someone who isn't afraid to say, I am different. Yes this guy can make mistakes but who doesn't? Even past that, I see someone who has a heart and thinks of others well before his own needs."
"But…"
"Inuyasha can you hate someone who is like that?"
"No I guess not." he plainly said.
"Now, you feel shame when you said you see a half breed, but then I just numbered several things where that's what you have become by meeting friends. Don't you love someone like that?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"See so you have grace too. Now you feel both shame and grace but which do you think you feel more of?"
"I guess the grace outweighed the one thing that is shame."
"There you go so you are graceful. No matter what anyone else says, grace is what you feel."
"Thanks Kagome." Inuyasha smiled at his reflection. He did have grace, maybe it was everyone else that made him feel shame, he never did hate himself or what he was but everyone around him hated him. That was except for Kagome who would stick by his side forever.
"If you don't want to go back then I can understand. I can easily tell Miroku and Sango that we can stay out here tonight." Kagome said softly.
"We can go back." He whispered. "I can endure one more night of this."
"Just remember, they all have shame, those who tease others are the ones that are the most jealous of those they tease." Kagome said tongue tied.
Inuyasha smiled at her, she tried so hard to make him feel better, "No more sayings today."
Kagome smiled as she got up to stretch, "Let's go back then."
Kagome started to walk when she felt a hand around her ankle, "Lets stay here a little longer." He whispered as Kagome agreed and sat back down next to him.
'Poor guy, he says he can take one more night but he has all of his lifetime where he will hear these words.' She thought as she stared into the water that held both of there eyes. 'Inuyasha just know that I will always be here for you.' She thought as she put her head against his shoulder.
Inuyasha looked over at Kagome who currently had her head on his shoulder, 'Kagome don't you know that you will get just as many whispers when you hang around me? Do you not hear them or do you ignore them? I guess I can withstand the whispers as long as you are with me though.' He thought as the night fell on them.
As you can see I love this saying (second fic with this saying in it), it is such an awesome saying! And when I heard it and thought about it, Inuyasha was the one who came to mind about the best way to represent it. While Kagome isn't the most knowing type, I could see her saying something like this if it were to cheer Inuyasha up.
Also can you tell me if you were able to tell that the italics were something that only Inuyasha could hear cuz I tried my best to make it that way!!
This was a random idea I had cuz in the anime Inuyasha always hates villages and there has to be a reason, right? So I gave him a reason, mwahaha. The only problem is I didn't know how to end it so it took me a long time to figure out how to make it come out. I think it turned out pretty good but I need you to tell me!!
Please review for me and tell me what you think of it.